France: Baguette

Today, we are baking baguette, one of the most emblematic and famous breads in the world, and I am not just saying this because I am French!

A baguette is a long and thin loaf of bread with a crispy crust that cracks when you squeeze it. It has a diameter of about 5 centimeters (2 inches) and a usual length of about 65 centimeters (25 inches).

The word baguette was not used to refer to this bread until 1920. The word, which originates from the Italianbacchetta, means “wand” or “baton”.

A change in technology was partly responsible for the introduction of baguette. By the 1920s, most French bakeries were equipped with steam ovens that were needed to caramelize the starch on the surface of the loaf and give it a thin golden crust. The steam allows the crust to expand before it sets. It creates a lighter and airier loaf. It also melts the dextrose on the bread’s surface, which gives the slightly glazed effect.

The first steam oven was brought to Paris in the early nineteenth century by Austrian officer August Zang, who also introduced Viennese bread (pain viennois) and croissant.

WWI created a shortage of manpower and traditional loaves that were prepared from a sourdough became too labor-intensive for many bakeries. But it is a new law that came into effect in October 1920 that contributed to the success of baguette. Indeed, this new law prevented bakers from working before 4am. This meant that they did not have time to bake traditional bread in time for breakfast and turned to baguette, which was quicker to prepare.

Thus, the commercial success of baguette really started about a century ago. Today, more than 10 billion baguettes are produced each year in France. No need to get your calculator out: we are talking about 320 baguettes per second, or 150 baguettes per person per year!

But those thin long breads had been around for a long time. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte may even have something to do with it. A story claims that Napoleon passed a law asking that bread be made in long thin loaves of exact measurements to fit into a special pocket on his soldiers’ uniforms!

You have to go back in time a little bit more to get the full story of bread in France.

In the early stages of the French Revolution, rising bread prices were a major concern. In 1788 and 1789, speculation in the grains industry combined with adverse weather conditions led to a severe shortage of bread throughout France. Prices increased dramatically. The poor and peasant classes were the most affected. While the richest had plenty of fine bread made from white flour, the poor subsisted on an inferior product made from poorly milled bran grains.

Up until then, French peasants used to eat bread that was made from wheat, rye or buckwheat. But bakers often added all sorts of fillers to cut down on their cost: sawdust, hay, dirt and even manure were all used. At the time, most of a peasant’s diet came from bread. They could eat as much as two or three pounds of bread a day.

In 1793, once calm was restored, the constituent assembly authorized bakers to make only one kind of bread called “bread of equality” (pain d’égalité).

On November 26th 1793, the General Council outlined more specific instructions for this equality bread:

Bakers will only cook a single type of bread.
The quality of this bread will be that resulting from a mix of three quarts of wheat and one quart of rye.
Bakers will cook loaves of 8 pounds, of 4 pounds and of one pound; they will not be allowed to use other divisions.
The price of equality bread is fixed as follows:
The 8 pound loaf, 1 livre.
The 4 pound loaf, 10 sols, 6 deniers
The one pound loaf, 3 sols.

Let them eat cake!

This is the translation of the famous French phrase “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”, supposedly spoken by Queen Marie Antoinette (although there is no record of her saying this) when she learned that the peasants had no bread to eat. Since brioche was a luxury bread enriched with butter and eggs, the quote would show the queen’s disdain for the peasants, or at a minimum the fact that she had lost touch with reality by thinking that the absence of basic food staples was due to a lack of supply rather than poverty.

Long and thin breads started to become popular before the Revolution in the mid-eighteenth century. But long and wider bread loaves had been made since the time of Louis XIV during the seventeenth century.

In France, not all long bread loaves are called baguettes. For example, a short, American football shaped loaf is called a bâtard (bastard). A thinner loaf is called a ficelle (string). Sandwich-sized breads are known as demi-baguettes (half baguettes). A baguette must weigh 250 grams (8.75 ounces), a batard 500 grams (17.5 ounces) and a ficelle 100 grams (3.5 ounces).

In order to protect bakers and the traditional bread making process, French bread has finally been recently regulated. The Bread Decree of 1993 now mandates that French bread must be made on the same premises where it’s sold, may never be frozen, and must contain only flour, water, yeast, and salt.

We are not as lucky in the United States, as French bread, which is generally much wider, is not baked in steam ovens, but rather in convection oven.

There are a few traditions associated with baguette in France.

As part of the traditional continental breakfast, slices of baguette are spread with butter and jam and dunked in bowls of coffee or hot chocolate. The French call them tartines.

Also, you can ask your baker for a baguette that’s bien cuite (well-cooked and crusty) or pas trop cuite (under-cooked and soft).

It is common for people to eat the quignon (heel of the loaf) on the way home from the boulangerie (bakery).

The baguette recipe that I am sharing today is probably the recipe I tested the most since the birth of 196 flavors. In the matter of 2 weeks, I probably baked 8 batches of baguette to arrive at this simple, yet tried and tested recipe that just works!

It all started as I was preparing for the second cooking class I hosted at Stage+Table, this great venue in Santa Monica, just a few blocks off the ocean (see photos here). I asked my friend Bettina’s mom Pascale if she could co-host the class with me. Pascale has worked at her brother’s bakeries in Paris for 15 years.

Two weeks prior to the class, Pascale, her husband Michel and my friend Bettina came to have lunch with us. On the menu, freshly baked baguettes, wine and cheese. Can it be more French than this?

That day, we tried a recipe that was closer to what is called a baguette traditionnelle, the type of baguette with a thicker brown crust and generally a little floury. The baguettes were really good but we had to find a simpler recipe for a baguette classique, as this recipe required close to 3 hours of rest time.

I also needed the right tools: a razor blade and a spray bottle.

Indeed, in order to score the baguette right before baking it, it is preferable to use a very thin and sharp blade, as a regular knife would not create a clean cut. If you don’t have a razor blade, the paring knife will do.

Since most of us do not have a steam oven, you have to simulate the steam by doing two things. First, spray the baguettes with water right before baking them. Second, place a small baking dish or skillet filled with water in the oven during preheating.

There is another tool you will need to get the perfect crust: a baguette pan. Those pans, which perfectly fit the shape of baguettes, have tiny holes at the bottom to let the air and the steam flow.

I will spare you with all the different tricks I tried to get the perfect baguette, including dissolving the yeast in warm water before incorporating to the flour, filling a baking sheet with water placed under the baguette pan, scoring the bread before the last rising of the dough, greasing and not greasing the pan, varying the baking time and temperature, and finally letting the dough rise 3, 4, or even 5 times.

In the end, I am extremely happy with this recipe and the end result. The whole family had a gluten overdose for 2 weeks, and although I love bread, I think I might be ready for a gluten-free detox… for maybe a couple days!

Related Posts:

Mike is “the devil” of the 196 flavors' duo. Nicknamed as such by his friends, he is constantly in search of unusual recipes and techniques with impossible to find ingredients. The devil is always pushing the envelope, whether it is with humor or culinary surprises.

No couche necessary? The pan I found on Amazon at a very reasonable price, but some of the recipes I’ve found require a couche. What is the difference with or without! Thanks for your help… I want to do this right.

When do you spray the dough?
And in the step for allowing the dough to rise in the pan … should they rise covered or uncovered. I’ve tried this recipe twice so far and have not mastered it yet. The first go was very salty so I switched to kosher salt the second go… still a bit on the border of too salty but much better. Texture is great and the directions are pretty clear except for the clarification in my first two questions. Any help there would be great!

Hey Jacqueline, thank you so much for your questions, as they allowed me to make the recipe a little more clear. I added a couple more clear instructions for what you were asking about. Good luck on your next attempt!

Hey Aj, thanks for your questions. There are really different factors that enter in the making of bread and more specifically baguette. In my configuration, and when baking baguette at home, I tend to think that if you proof the baguette for too long, it will not be airy enough, as the dough doesn’t have room left to expand while baking. Actually, I even think that the photos I shared here show that, in this attempt, I probably proofed a little too long. I made several other attempts and I got slightly better results with less proofing (after which I adjusted the recipe, although I didn’t take new photos 😉 Hope this helps.

Your recipe is so simple and the baguettes turned out super scrummy! Loved them dipped in olive oil! I have 2 questions for you:
1. Is there a way to use whole wheat flour in this recipe? I’m trying to use less white flour and more whole wheat flour in my home baking. I know you can switch flour types but it impacts how much water is needed and how long to proof due to the added weight I believe. Hoping you can give some guidance on how to do it.
2. Do you know how to make a seed covered baguette?

I’m on a quest to bake French bread as I remember eating in Laon France in 1966 (my Dad was in the Air Force and we lived there as a kid for a while). 50 years later I find that French bread (baguettes) doesn’t taste like I remember. I went to Paris on a business trip 15 years ago to find that the French bread there tastes the same as you get anywhere. So I thought I was imagining some fabled bread of my childhood. Then 10 years ago I was having dinner at a nice restaurant in Liden (Holland). I had a roll there that tasted EXACTLY like I remember French Bread in 1966 tasting. I was too shy to ask the waiter how they made the bread (very stupid mistake). I’m now trying to figure this out. So far I have experimented with the highest gluten flour and experimented with combination of poolish (with yeast) and leaven (with fermented flour and water). So far I have failed to recreate the flavor that I seek. I have not made bread with zero yeast yet. Any suggestions? I’m wondering if in 1966 they added anything other than flour, water and salt. I also wonder if they were using only sponge, If they were also using yeast, is there a difference in old school French yeast and what you buy at the grocery store today? I sure would like some help re-creating my childhood bread!

Hey Brad, I honestly do not think they were adding anything to the baguette ingredients. The only other ingredient I can think of (which is not used at French boulangeries anymore) is lard for what was called “baguettes moulées”. Other than that, I think it’s be hard to recreate the commercial ovens at home. Your best bet is to use my technique of adding humidity/steam to the baking process. Good luck!

Hi there, I’m working on my first attempt here and I wonder, when spraying with water… Is it a light mist? Should the loaves be completely wet? Is there a preferred temp to the water. My first batch is looking somewhat like mini French breads. I’m not getting that rustic outer crust. What am I doing wrong?

Hey Lisa, good questions. So, I usually just spray lightly with water. Doesn’t have to be fully wet. Room temperature for the water is fine. You will not get the rustic outer crust with this recipe, as this is the standard baguette recipe. What you are looking for is what we call in France “baguette tradition”. Enjoy!